BUY THE WORLD

by

Danielle De Vito

Writing for Visual Media Short Film Documentary April 26, 2018

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Tile: Buy the World Documentary Script Written by: Danielle De Vito

Visual Audio

CUT TO Black and white images of a protest * *image attached at end of document

Music (M) I'd like to build the world a home And furnish it with love Grow apple trees and honey bees And snow white turtle doves I'd like to teach the world to sing In perfect harmony M Fades out Voice Over (VO) These days were dark. The images you see are real pictures taken of an outraged public. Some of these times were referred to as Man 1 not unlike the Allied Invasion of Europe VO and compared to the MAN 1 planning of a major military operation. VO The biggest of these outcries occurred in April of 1985.

CONTINUOUS “I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing” Coke advertisement

M Same music as before. Plays quietly now in the background. VO While this song and video might seem counter to everything else just seen and said, they couldn’t be more connected. All this drama was due to Coca-Cola.

CUT TO Flashes of Coca-Cola bottles and campaigns throughout the ages

VO Whether or not you’re a cola drinker, Coke is a part of your life, and has been a part of the many lives before yours. The advertisements,

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vending machines, and Coke sellers are around you constantly. Here you see the journey of how and why cola is such a huge part of the American life.

CUT TO An image of John Pemberton* appears on screen We see an image of the French Wine Coca* and its ingredients.

VO The journey of Coke began way back in 1886 when a pharmacist, John Pemberton, was looking for his next commercial product to bring him capital. At the time, his bestselling product was French Wine Coca. This was a concoction of cocaine, the caffeine from the cola plant, and of course some lovely French wine. Pemberton ran into problems selling this when prohibition hit. While the cocaine was fine, his finest ingredient was not.

CONTINUOUS Footage of the old-time soda machines that were poured from a spout.

VO Pemberton saw the booming soft drink industry, and took his French Wine Coca there. Extracting the wine, Coca-Cola was thus invented.

CUT TO People drinking Coke Pemberton hands Candler the drink. Chandler takes a sip and looks ecstatic.

VO With the cocaine and caffeine elements, Pemberton advertised the drinks as having healing qualities, thought that is pretty much the extent of his advertising. He was an awful business man. Griggs Candler, a man with chronic head aces, discovered the healing qualities to be true, as Coca-Cola would subdue his headaches. He took the business on for himself. Thanks to his skills in advertising, he is the man who got Coca-Cola its true booming start. VO Of course, however, no monopoly in the US lasts long. There will always be a villain to our hero.

CUT TO First Pepsi-Cola advertisement First Pepsi-Cola advertisement continues

M “Pepsi Bounce” song plays M Fades out VO

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Pepsi came, and quickly. Like Coke, the name insinuates something it is not. At this point, Candler had taken out all the cocaine in Coke, and most of the cola. The drink was basically all sugar. “Pepsi” refers to pepsin, insinuating it could help with digestion. This clearly is not true.

CONTINUOUS First Pepsi-Cola advertisement Images of Pepsi in the 50s First Pepsi-Cola advertisement continues

VO While perhaps there’s no pepsin in Pepsi, there definitely was pep. This cola came quickly and fierce. It was the first brand to cross the barriers Coca-Cola was throwing at its competitors. They had their difficulties at first, but when TV advertisements came around in the 50s, Pepsi swung in full force. Pepsi was the sweeter, cooler drink. All the cool kids were drinking Pepsi, whereas Coke was for the old folk. AD Man VO Popularity, that’s what Pepsi’s got. More fun, more bounce to the ounce, and more for your money too! Wherever the crowd gathers, you’re sure to find Pepsi, so why take less when Pepsi’s best? Buy Pepsi by the carton!

CROSS DISOLVE TO Pepsi challenge footage Images of the modern Pepsi bottles, and all the young folk drinking Pepsi. Image of New Coke email *

Pepsi Challenge Host You are about to take the Pepsi challenge. You know I have two bottles of cola back here and you don’t know which is which. Okay now I am going to pick this up, and tell me which one you chose! Pepsi Challenge Guest 1 Pepsi! Pepsi Challenge Host You know in tests like these nationwide more people prefer the taste of Pepsi over Coca-Cola. Take the Pepsi challenge! Let your taste decide. VO Coke panicked, and in the 80s Pepsi had grown too many customers for them to deal with. This is when they made their big

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blunder. It was this moment that Coke turned America into disarray.

CUT TO New Coke Advertisement

Ad Man Recently an independent research firm ran a taste test between Coke and Pepsi. And the taste more people chose was the taste of Coca-Cola. Yes, more people all across the country when comparing Coke to Pepsi, chose the taste of Coke as the better taste. Let’s look at it this way, we gave American the choice, and more people said… Coke is it!

CUT TO New coke comes slowly onto screen from a far

VO New Coke can be considered one of the biggest advertising blunders of all time. Coca-Cola decided they needed a new recipe that was more similar to Pepsi. This they thought would fit the times better. What they forgot about was their extremely loyal following. Coke was just on the verge of their 100th anniversary when they cut out their original campaign of being America’s classic, original, cola.

CUT TO Video of upset people at New Coke rally

Gay Mullins VO I feel injured. Betrayed. Like a sacred trust has been violated... People are having anxiety headaches. They've been placed in a distressed state. They were guarding a sacred trust! Coca-Cola has tied this drink to the very fabric of America—apple pie, baseball, the Statue of Liberty. And now they replace it with a new formula, and they tell us just to forget it. They have taken away my freedom of choice. It's un-American!"

CUT TO Interview of Frank DeVito Keyframe into boxing photo* Flashes of people drinking coke through the ages. (including images of veterans)

Frank DeVito I was the creative director at Lintas, an advertising agency, from 1984 to 1995. It was during this period of time that the so called “Cola Wars” occurred. We would be called in on several occasions to work on the Coca-Cola business. Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola have battled for years to be the leader in the very lucrative cola segment. Coca-Cola has been, and continues to be, the #1 brand in the soft drink arena. It was America’s soft

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Back to interview

drink, and they loved it. It was the brand you grew up with. The problem with the Pepsi Challenge was that it was flawed. When Coca-Cola went back into the testing and conducted new testing that branded the samples with a Coke and Pepsi label, consumers preferred Coca-Cola. Both brands had misjudged the power of the brand! Our agency was called in to re-introduce Coca-Cola Classic. VO It took only 29 days for Coke to realized their mistakes. Classic coke was back.

CUT TO Video of old Coke returning back to New Orleans Video of Classic Coke bottling plant.

News Reporter Thousands of people stop by local bottling plant this afternoon to pick up cans or the original Coke, now called Coke Classic. The original recipe went back on the market only two and a half months after it was ousted by New Coke. Tom Foreman (News Reporter) The new old Coke returned with all the fanfare one might expect. While a band belted out every coke advertising jingle you could remember. Workers handed out the old classic as fast as they could. At five cents a can it seemed every classic coke lover for miles around wanted in on the deal. One lady reportedly showed up five hours early to wait for that first cold sip. Woman Coke Fanatic Oh yeah, I don’t like the New Coke. I stopped drinking Coke all together. Working Man I was on my way home from work and it’s only ten cents! Man Coke Fanatic I used to drink Coke. I don’t like the New Coke, not very much.

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Tom Foreman Within the first hour and a half 13,000 cans of Classic Coke had been sold. And still the thirsty people kept coming.

CUT TO Frank DeVito Interview Split screen of “Red White and You” campaign posters* popping up Frank DeVito Interview Fade to black FADE IN “A Coke and the American Dream” image*

Frank DeVito After the New Coke disaster, we did a campaign intended to re-bond Coke with the American consumer and re-inforce its image as America’s soft drink. The campaign also built on the red and white of the logo. The line: Coca-Cola Classic. Red White and You. While some marketers have referred to the introduction of New Coke as a Coca-Cola disaster, all the publicity actually resulted in increased sales and share of market for Coca-Cola, who is still the #1 brand of cola. A net win for Coke! The head of Coke once told me “The only thing we own is the brand. Everything else is just flavored sugar water in a can.”

CUT TO People drinking and enjoying Coke in the 80s Coca-Cola confidential documents* Specific text referred to gets highlighted

VO Coke had made its comeback, and their sales skyrocketed. They regained their title as the classic, all American, cola. VO While Americans did go crazy over their beloved drink being lost, it wasn’t ridiculously far-fetched to relate it so closely to true America. In making New Coke, an operation Coca-Cola referred to as “Project Kansas,” there were documents to Coke’s staff stating that “as in planning a major military operation, it is necessary to understand the risks clearly. We took a look at the lessons to be learned from the 1944 Allied invasion, ‘Operation Overlord.’”

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CONTINUOUS Coke ads through the ages flash by Images of soldiers drinking Coke Pepsi in wine bottles, same price for more ads.*

VO Coca-Cola, and the rest of America, was clearly very attached to this product. Perhaps it’s because of the addicting qualities, but more-so it is in the marketing. From the start, Coke let you know how much America needed them. BEAT In WWI, Coke managed to not only become the only soft drink to be excused from the sugar rations, but they also convinced the government that the beverage was a wartime necessity, thus being sent to the troops. The only way Pepsi was able to survive this, was by stealing sugar from candy, and using their own genius marketing of utilizing old wine bottles to sell their products. Though, Coke was still always one step ahead.

CUT TO Video from 1800s, when coke was only poured from a spout. We see the technology that was used. Coke bottles throughout the ages* fading into and out of one another

VO Coke was the first drink to be bottled and sold to be kept in your house, or taken on the go with you. In 1899 the first Coke bottle was sold, but it didn’t stop there. In 1915, Coca-Cola made it so that no matter where you are or who you are, you knew when you were drinking a Coke. The special Cola bottle design we know of today was founded here. No other glass was like it. Even if you were blind, you could find the Coke. And even today, everyone knows Coke tastes better out of a glass bottle.

CONTINUOIS Flashes of modern-day Coke advertisements

VO It’s the incredible campaigns like these that truly build a monopoly. Advertisements and strategic marketing can mean all the difference between a thriving or a dying product. It is the crazy branding that has put Coca-Cola into the hearts of so many Americans.

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CUT TO Montage of Modern Coke campaigns and commercials Coke’s “Hug Me” vending machine lights up. Then we see a WS of people walking towards it. We see the machine in action- people hug it and get a free coke. They are ecstatic. Coke’s Polar bear commercial 2018 Coke Super Bowl commercial “The Wonder of Us” Life is Short, Have a Diet Coke Ad “Share A Coke” Ad- Coke with names on it

M Upbeat music in the background Commercial Audio Music and bear noises VO And the Coke Company made sure to change with the times. Commercial Audio There’s a Coke for he, and she, and her, and me, and them. There’s a different Coke for all of us. Commercial Audio Have a Diet Coke! Diet Coke, because I can Commercial Audio

CUT TO Visuals of all the different brands owned by coke as their name is stated.

VO Due to their power in this country, they have been easily able to grow it over the years. Now owning Sprite, Fanta, Dasani, Smartwater, Minute Maid, Simply Orange, Odwalla, and the list goes on.

CUT TO Print Coke Ads*

Eva Herron Interview I’m Coca-cola till I die. Coke is one of the great things that came out of Atlanta, other than me.

FADE TO COKE RED CREDITS ROLL

M

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Sources https://www.worldofcoca-cola.com/about-us/coca-cola-history/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiO_JES4yBY http://mentalfloss.com/article/85231/fizzled-out-new-coke-protests-1985 https://www.cbsnews.com/news/30-years-ago-today-coca-cola-new-coke-failure/ http://www.coca-colacompany.com/brands/coca-cola-life https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-A-7H4aOhq0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-R-EEdvDrUU&t=46s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMF1l9CAViE http://www.coca-colacompany.com/stories/coca-cola-stories-new-coke World of Coca-Cola, Atlanta, Georgia

Images referenced to: Protest Images:

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John Pemberton: French Wine Coca:

Old soda Machine:

New Coke Email:

Boxing Photo:

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Red White and You Posters:

A Coke and the American Dream image:

Coca-Cola Confidential Documents:

Print Coke Ad:

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Pepsi-Cola Same Prince Ads: History of Coke Bottles:

Other Great Images: